Limiting access

Telegram is widety used countries across the former Soviet Union and Middle East, and reportedly has 200 million active users as of March this year, making it the ninth most popular messaging app in the world.

But it is also controversial, as Telegram allows users to communicate via encrypted messages which cannot be read by third parties, including government authorities.

But Russia’s FSB Federal Security Service wants access to some messages for its work, including safeguarding against terrorist attacks.

Telegram has consistently refused to comply with its demands, citing respect for user privacy.

This has led to Russia’s Roskomnadzor filing a lawsuit at a Moscow court on Friday “with a request to restrict access on the territory of Russia to the information resources of … Telegram Messenger Limited Liability Partnership.”

According to Reuters, the watchdog said the lawsuit was connected to statements by the FSB that Telegram was not complying with its legal obligations as an “organiser of information distribution.”

A spokesman for Telegram reportedly did not respond to a request for comment.

Crackable app?

In March last year, both WhatsApp and Telegram issued emergency patches after researchers at Check Point found a “severe vulnerability” for the web versions of the end-to-end encrypted chat applications.

And it should be remembered there is a chance that these apps may not be as secure as some people like to think.